Etymograph

English

revocation

Revocation comes from Latin revocātiō ‘recalling’, from vocō ‘to call, summon, beckon’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wokʷ-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocō1‘to call, summon, beckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocō2‘to recall, to call back’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocātiō3as revocationem‘recalling’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revocacion3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revocacioun3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023revocation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin revoco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin revocatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English revocation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Nick Brodrick, 'Jacobite' services halted over "safety failures": “[…] Due to the safety issues identified, ORR has…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wokʷ-Wiktionary, Latin revocoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocōWiktionary, Latin revoco‘to call, summon, beckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocōWiktionary, Latin revocatio‘to recall, to call back’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocātiōWiktionary, English revocationas revocationem‘recalling’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revocacionWiktionary, English revocation
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revocaciounWiktionary, English revocation
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023revocationWiktionary, English revocation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Nick Brodrick, 'Jacobite' services halted over "safety failures": “[…] Due to the safety issues identified, ORR has…”

Formed from revoke + -ation

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

Latin revocare

Middle French révoquer

English revoke

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-

vocabulary, 23 more

through Latin vocō ‘to call, summon, beckon’

invite, advocate, invitation, vie, provoke, invoke, vouch, provocative, vocational, provocation, invocation, provocateur, convocation, 29 more

through Latin revocō ‘to recall, to call back’

irrevocable, 2 more

Today it means

noun An act or instance of revoking.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “revocation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin revoco, Latin revocatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ- / revocation

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